San Juan County

A former associate director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness faces a preliminary hearing August 22nd on charges related to an incident in April in Southeast Utah. However, one charge against Rose Chilcoat and her husband, Mark Franklin, has been called into question. The couple is accused of shutting a gate on April 1st on state trust land between Bluff and Mexican Hat, Utah, preventing cattle from accessing a water hole. They face several charges, including attempted wanton destruction of livestock, a felony.

A district judge has denied a change of venue in a case involving charges against the sheriff of San Juan County, Utah, and two of his deputies. The San Juan Record reports that Seventh District Judge George Harmond ruled Tuesday that the trial will take place in District Court in Monticello rather than in Salt Lake City. Sheriff Rick Eldredge, Chief Deputy Alan Freestone, and Deputy Robert J. Wilcox were charged in June with various counts relating to a 2015 incident in which Eldredge allegedly pointed an unloaded rifle at an employee and pulled the trigger.

San Juan County, Utah, has a new director of economic development. The San Juan Record reports that Natalie Randall, the current director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Monticello, was picked from among nine applicants.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's review of the Bears Ears monument is expected by June 10th. San Juan Record editor Bill Boyle joined KSJD's Austin Cope on Morning Edition to share his perspectives about how the Bears Ears Monument discussion is playing out locally.